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Monday, March 25, 2013

“Setting up educational institutions, with focus on improving access, equity and quality in Minority Concentration Districts (MCDs) is a priority for the Government,” claimed, Dr. Shashi Tharoor, minister of State for Human Resource Development, in the Lok Sabha, here recently. The two among 90 MCDs are Gulbarga and Bidar.

He further added that under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), districts with concentration of Muslim population were specifically targeted for maximizing school access and eliminating infrastructure gaps. Under this programme, as of December 2012, a total number of 20512 Primary Schools and 9918 Upper Primary Schools had been constructed in Minority Concentration Districts.

Under the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), 890 new secondary schools have been approved to be opened in MCDs. Out of 3609 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) i.e. residential schools for girls at Upper Primary level for girls belonging predominantly to the SC, ST, OBC and minority communities in Educational Backward Blocks, 544 KGBVs had been sanctioned in the MCDs, enrolling 10,821 Muslim girls.

In addition under the scheme of establishment of 374 Model Degree Colleges in districts having a Gross Enrolment Ratio of Higher Education below the national average, 12 proposals were received and approved for setting up Model Degree Colleges in MCDs. Under the Schemes of Sub-Mission on Polytechnics, 54 new Polytechnics have been approved in MCDs out of the 57 proposed in 13 States. An amount of Rs.315.16 cores has been released so far.

The National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI) has granted minority status certificates to 7292 educational institutions till Jan. 2013. Dr. Tharoor was replying to a written question on Minorities education.(KMNN)

Gulbarga Electricity Supply Company will introduce scheduled power cuts in the district from March 22.

In urban areas, one batch of areas will have no power from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m., 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. and 6.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. The second batch will have no power from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m., 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 7.30 p.m. to 8.30 p.m.

Industrial areas will face power cuts from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Rural areas will get three-phase power from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 11 p.m. to 2 a.m., and single-phase power from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Some other areas will get three-phase power from 12 noon to 3 p.m. and 1 a.m. to 4 a.m., and single-phase power between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m.

The third batch will get three-phase power between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. and from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. Single phase power will be provided between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m.

Women of Yenegunda village in Aurad taluk staged a protest here on Saturday against the sale of liquor there.

They walked to the Deputy Commissioner’s office and the district police office.

They submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Superintendent of Excise before dispersing.

They said that liquor was being sold in provision stores and paan shops in Yenegunda and surrounding villages. Some people were selling it from their houses.

The protesters said it was routine for the men to get drunk and beat up women. “Men behave indecently in public. Some even steal foodgrains from their houses to buy liquor. A small village like ours, with a population under 1,000, has over 15 shops and several unlicensed outlets. All of these shops need to close if we are to prosper,” they said.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

The former Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh has instructed officials to inquire into the payment of Rs. 2.8 crore by the zilla panchayat to the Karnataka State Electronics Development Corporation (Keonics), in violation of rules, for preparing a web-based management system. He said the zilla panchayat had awarded a Rs. 3.85-crore project to Keonics in 2012, without referring it to a technical committee or conducting a feasibility study. The ZP had also made an advance payment of 75 per cent of the project cost, Mr. Singh said.

Ishwar Khandre said the former chief executive officer (CEO) Mir Anees Ahmed had taken this decision without consulting officials. He told Deputy Commissioner P.C. Jaffer to take action against Mr. Ahmed and recover the money from Keonics.

Mr. Singh said a committee comprising Dr. Jaffer, Ujjwal Kumar Ghosh, ZP CEO, Sunil Panwar, Deputy Conservator of Forests, and IT experts would be constituted to look into the agreement.

Mr. Ghosh said: “If there were violations, we would submit a report and urge the State government to instruct Keonics to use the money for providing other services to Bidar ZP.

The North Eastern Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NEKRTC) will operate 16 city buses in Bidar in the next few weeks, NEKRTC Chairman Shivanand Kallur said here on Monday.

“The city bus services introduced in cities such as Gulbarga and Bijapur have been extremely successful and have gained popularity. We will introduce this in Bidar too,” he said.

Major losses

He said NEKRTC had accrued losses of over Rs. 12 crore over the years.

“We are seeking additional funds from the government and some tax exemptions. We have also asked the government to take strict action against private companies who operate buses on nationalised routes. Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar has also written to the Union government to reduce prices on bulk purchase of diesel,” he said.

He said the corporation had suffered significant losses due to the delay in repair of the Kurikota bridge.

Mr. Kallur complained that staff of road transport corporation in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh were not cooperating with NEKRTC officials.

“I will meet chairpersons of these RTCs and seek cooperation, he said.

NEKRTC would build a Yatri Nivas and temporary lodgings for conductors and drivers in important tourist places in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.

“We will seek allotment of some land on lease in those places,” he said.

Transfer of personnel

He said NEKRTC would start transfer of personnel on counselling basis.

Mr. Kallur also said that he would consider reducing discretionary powers of senior officials to ensure lower officials were not harassed.

He said he would initiate action against officials who had abetted the suicide of a conductor in the Bidar depot.

Thursday, March 14, 2013

The first edition of the Sunfeast Kannada Kotyadipati, a reality show hosted by actor Puneeth Rajkumar on Suvarna TV, will be dedicated to Bidar’s history and culture, including monuments such as the Chandni Chabutra, sweets like Pan Peda, a dictionary of the local dialect by Deshamsha Hudgi, the cave temple built by Bheemraya Hadapad, and the 108-ft Basaveshwara statue at Basavakalyan, according to a release. The first episode will be aired on March 11.

Friday, March 8, 2013

Here's good news for North Karnataka industry. The central government has approved two industrial clusters, in Hubli-Dharwad and Bidar and these projects will be implemented shortly.

D Chandrashekhar, director, MSME-Development Institute, Hubli told TOI, "The Union ministry of micro and small and medium enterprises has already approved the Automobile Service Cluster in Bidar and the Heat Treatment and General Engineering Cluster in Hubli-Dharwad will soon be approved."

Aravind Kumar, Deputy Director-General (Education), Indian Council of Agriculture Research, has said that the council will support sports and cultural activities of students in farm universities.

“ICAR suggests activities and provides funds to universities and colleges in agriculture and allied fields. This is part of a bigger process of character building,” he said after inaugurating the 14th All-India inter agriculture universities sports meet at the Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University (KVAFSU) grounds.

He said the ICAR had funded the creation of sports infrastructure in agriculture universities in the country.

Aravind Jannu, principal secretary, animal husbandry and fisheries, said there were no losers in sports meets. “You win every time because your spirit helps you stretch yourself beyond your physical limits,” he said.

C. Renuka Prasad, Vice-Chancellor, KVAFSU, sought additional funds from the ICAR for developing the indoor stadium and sporting facilities in the university.

P.C. Jaffer, Deputy Commissioner, was present.

As many as 1,750 sportspersons with 471 girls from 43 farm universities are participating in seven events in the four-day meet.

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Union Labour and Employment Minister M. Mallikarjun Kharge has rejected the charge that there was nothing much for Karnataka in the Railway Budget.

The State has received a fair share of new projects and trains, the Minister said.

Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, Mr. Kharge said out of the 22 new rail lines sanctioned, three were in Karnataka, including the new link between Wadi and Gadag, which would connect Hyderabad Karnataka and Mumbai Karnataka.

Incidentally, this is the longest of the sanctioned rail lines, covering a distance of 253 km. Over Rs. 2,000 crore would be invested in the project.

The ball was now in the State government’s court. It had to provide land to the Railways for work to begin.

On the demand to make the Solapur–Yeshwantpur Express, passing through Gulbarga, a daily service, the Minister said there was some confusion on the issue.

Inadvertently, another train running between Solapur–Yeshwantpur, passing through Bagalkot, had been made a daily service. However, Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal had promised to resolve the matter soon, Mr. Kharge added.

On the Gulbarga–Bidar rail line, Mr. Kharge said Rs. 25 crore had been allocated for the project for 2013–14.The Minister said the Union Government had sanctioned one more Eklavya Model Residential School, to be established at a cost of Rs. 16 crore in Yadgir district, during 2013–14.

The school would provide quality education to students from the Scheduled Tribes in remote areas.